Lighting buildings by hydrocarbon-lamps



(No Model.)

J. R. BUROHFIELD.

LIGHTING BUILDINGS BY HYDROOARBON LAMPS.

Patented Jan Inve n for n. vzrzns, Phalo-L'Ahognphor. Wnshing'nn. n. cy

NIIED STATES PATENT @rrrcaa JAMES R. BURUHFIELD, 0F SHARON, PENNSYLVANIA.

LIGHTENG BUILDINGS B'Y HYDROQARBON-LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,412, dated January 30, 1883.

Application filed May 23, 1s2.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JAMES READE BURCH- FIELD, a citizen of the United States residing at Sharon, in the county of Mercer andState of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Lighting Buildings by Hydrocarbon-Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for lighting buildings by stationary lamps supplied by pipes with hydrocarbon oil from a reservoir or supply-chamber; and the objects of my improvements are to obtain the greatest possible safety in the use of hydrocarbon fluids for lightingpurposes; to preserve the burner, wick-cup, and bracket parts or fixtures from being soiled by the overflow of oil from the burner; to provide for a continuous and regulated supply to the burners, and to simplify the apparatus; and the particular matter which constitutes my improvement will form the subject of specific claims.

The accompanying drawings represent a construction by which I claim these objects, in which- Figure 1 represents in elevation the apparatus for lighting by fixed lamps with hydrocarbon oil Fig. 2, a vertical section, enlarged, of a bracket, burner, wick-cup, and the connecting-pipe of the safety non-burning wick; Fig. 3, a similar section ofa burner stand-pipe; Fig. 4, a section of the burner, showing the chimney removed and the burner covered by a cap, to prevent evaporation of the oil when not in use.

In Fig.1 I have shown a n umber offixed lamps connected with and supplied with oil from a supply-chamber, A, connected with a main reservoir, B, which may be arranged in any suitable place above the level ofthe lamps, of any desired capacity, and made air-tight. It

is provided with a funnel-tube, b, by which the reservoir is filled, and a cock, I), by which it is opened and closed. The supplemental chamber A is of small capacity, is connected with the reservoir to receive and supply the oil to the, lamps or burners, and this chamber may be placed as shown in the room to be lighted orelsewhere. When used to light the lamps ofa single room, as shown, it will be about three inches deep and connected to the reservoir B by a pipe, at, which enters the top of (No model.)

the room, and with which the burner or lamppipes F connect, and are carried up the walls to the required height, so that the burner wickcups will be on a level with the supply-chamber to prevent overflow of the burners.

The supply-chamber A is provided with an air-vent, c, at the top to give an equable flow of oil to the burners. The capacity ofA should be from a halt to a gallon of oil to work so as to keep the lights burning without regard to the length of the Wick, because it will be kept full ofoil all the time from the reservoir with which a number of supply-chambers may connect for the burners of different rooms on the same floor.

The feed into the supply-chamber A will be equal to the consumption by the lamps, because as the oil falls below the mouth of the pipe a, so as to let air into it, the feed'will instantly take place and raise the oil in the chamber above the mouth of said pipe,and thereby Seal it to prevent an overflow at the burner cups. This construction givesan intermittent or pulsatingfeed into the supply-chamber and a continuous feed and supply to the burner:

cups from said chamber by the well-known law of equilibrium of fluids so long as the reservoir contains oil. In filling the. reservoir the cook a in the pipe to is closed to prevent it running out and overflowing in the supply-chamber and at the burners. This cook a should be placed near the reservoir, so as to be closed when filling it.

The burner-wick cup G is constructed to hold but very little oil, being about one inch in diameter and six inches long. It is provided with an interior screw-thread at each end, to adapt it to be screwed upon the distributing branch pipe F, and to receive the burner-screw, as shown in Figs.2 and 3. The burner-wick quite fills the cup, so that there is a constant flow of cool oil to the burner-wick, thereby lesseningthe heat of the cup and danger of explosion.

In the pipe-section or branch pipe F,'upon which the burner-cup is mounted, I place a non-burning wick, H, of suitable length, preferably not less than a foot, and snugly filling the pipe, for the purpose of giving the greatest possible safety against the undue heating of the cup and the danger of explosion from gases formed therein. The burner-wick is fed from this non-burning wick H and the latter contributes in the production of a steady and full flame with no smoke. The two wicks thus used allow only sufficient oil in the cup to maintain the flame and to cause a constant flow of coal-oil into the burner-cup. This supplemental non-burning wick, as shown in Figs. '2 and 3, is separate and independent of the burner-wick, but joins the cup-connection-G, and the pipe-section F which contains it is of a less diameter than the chamber of the cup. \Vheu so used the cup'chamber does not extend to the supplemental wick-pipe F, but terminates in a central passage,-d, of about threesixteenths of an inch in diameter, through which the oil passes from the safety-wick into the burner-wick cup. This small passage d gives a flow sutficieut to supply the burnerwick, and is from two to fourinchesin length, and, while serving as acommunication between the two wicks, serves also to separate them and to aid in preventing the undue heating of the cup.

As the oil from expansion, leakage, and other causes will, to a greater or less extent, find its way out and over the burner parts and down upon thecup and brackets,Iprovideagutter, I, around the top of the cup, so as to catch the oil and return it to the chamber of the cup through perforations i at the bottom of the gutter opening into the chamber. These perforations will also allow of the escape of any gas which may form in the chamber; but the employment of the supplemental feeding-wick keeps the cup comparatively cool, and the supply of oil being constant the generation of gases is not sufficient to produce explosion.

Two or more distributing-pipes may be connected with the supply-chamber, and for this reason its employment is desirable for use with burners on the same level; but the same result maybe obtained by a direct connection of the distributingpipe E with the reservoir-connecting pipe a, such connection being made on a line with the burner-cups at a point in a horizontal bend in said reservoir-pipe and below an air-vent, which must be above the junction of the said pipes.

The burner proper is provided with a cap, J, connected by a chain, so as to be used to cover the burner when the chimney is removed to preventevaporation when not in use.

The distributing-pipeis provided with means by which the oil can be drawn ofi' when from any cause it is desirable to do so, the communication of the pipes with the reservoir being first cut off. The reservoir may be emptied in the same way.

A portable lamp with a single burner may be constructed upon the same principle, the supply-chamber being arranged on a level to supply the burner-wick cup through the nonburning wick.

The cup is kept so cold that gas cannot generate, and the flow of oil is thereby made regular, keeping a uniform light. In fact, I find that the cup is not heated at all, so that there can be no gas generated, and therefore there can be no explosion.

The long passage d and its small area joining the non-burning wick gives important results in separating the burning from the nonburning wick and in giving a slow flow of the oil direct from one to the other; and particularly is it important that the non-burning wick should join this small passage and cover it,

and thereby form a partial seal between the supply-chamber and the burner-cup, preventing all danger of an overflow of oil from the cup and avoiding the necessity ot'an automatic valve in the tube connecting the reservoir with the wick or a cock for regulating the flow from a non-burning wick into the burner-cup, as heretoforedone in portable lamps,and in light ing by fixed lamps, in which a non-burning wick has been used as a supplement to and always in combination with such controlling devices.

I claim-- I. The burner-wick cup of a hydrocarbonlamp, having the top gutter, I, and its lower integral part formed with a long passage, d, ofstnall diameter, and a screw-socket, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The apparatus for lighting with hydrocarbon oil herein described, consisting of the reservoir B, the supply-chamber A, the connecting-pipe a having the cock a,,the distributing pipe or pipes E I the burner-cup G, having the drip-gutter I, and the long narrow passage (1, and the non-burning wick H, placed in joining and sealing relation to the narrow passage (1 of the burner-cup,all constructed as described, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAS. n. BURCHFIELD.

\Vitnesses:

A. E. H. JoHNsoN. J. W. HAMILTON Joruvsozv. 

